Dr Norman Swan in Conversation with Dr Preeya Alexander

Step inside the writer’s world with State Library Victoria’s Beyond the Page series. Over three evenings, hear from incredible storytellers as they delve into their latest work and discuss their creative process. The final event in the series welcomes one of Australia’s most trusted doctors, Dr Norman Swan, to discuss his newly released book, The Brain Cliff (August 2026), an exploration of the myriad ways we can keep our brains sharp as we age. What many of us fear, especially as we hit our forties and fifties, is not being as quick of mind. Not remembering as well as we used to. By our 60s and 70s we worry there's nothing we can do and that we are falling helplessly into an abyss which leads to dementia. Dr Norman will be joined in conversation by Dr Preeya Alexander, co-host of the Health Report on ABC Radio National and author of Rainbow Plate and Eat Sleep Play Love.